Purchasing concert tickets has long been a high-stakes gamble, with popular events often selling out within minutes.
But fans are increasingly competing with automated ticket-buying programs, commonly referred to as bots, that can secure seats in seconds before reselling them at higher prices.
This distorts access not only to concert tickets but also to everyday services such as booking train tickets.
Bryce Sung, a 23-year-old concertgoer, said buying tickets was always “very luck-based.” He added that increasing bot competition “feels very unfair.” Sng says half the joy of competing for tickets is the stress, and using a bot feels like it “takes away that experience.”
This is a December 2025 survey conducted by the Consumers Association of Singapore, with nearly 65% of respondents agreeing that ticket duffling has prevented genuine fans from attending events. Focus group participants in the study also mentioned bots that grab tickets within seconds and then resell them at higher prices.
Governments including South Korea and China have responded by tightening rules against automated ticket purchasing.
South Korea expanded its anti-scalping law on January 29 to cover practices that obstruct the fair purchase of tickets for resale, while Chinese regulators have repeatedly warned third-party platforms against using automated ticket acquisition software.
On February 12, Beijing’s market regulator met with 12 companies, including Jingdong.com, Didi Chuxing and Tencent Holdings, over the sale of train tickets, which has drawn “strong public criticism.” In an April 10 announcement, regulators said seven third-party platforms, including Ctrip, alibabafriggy and Meituanwas called for regulatory consultation.
In the first three months of 2026, China’s rail system handled more than 1.13 billion trips, according to the China National Railway Administration.
Passengers pass through the gate of Fuyang West Railway Station in Fuyang, China, on April 29, 2024.
Null Photo | Null Photo | Getty Images
law alone is not enough
Mark Hershberg, director of business and legal affairs at Music Theater International, said ticket scalping is an inevitable “function of supply and demand.”
Banning bots may have some effect, but policy alone may not be effective, Sun said.
“If you know humans, they will always find another way (around the rules),” he added.
David Irecki, chief technology officer at data software company Boomi, said there’s more to consider for companies defending against bots than just a “single signal.”
Detecting bots requires analyzing patterns in user data such as transaction and payment signals, purchase velocity, purchase patterns, and credit card activity, rather than relying on a single metric.
To combat bots, Ticketmaster, the main ticketing platform for many concerts, blocks automated software, identifies and shuts down fake accounts, and cancels orders that violate its policies.
“Brute force bot attacks…are just part of the battle we are fighting against scalpers,” the company told CNBC in an email.
“These are very sophisticated networks that try to mimic and blend in with the behavior of human fans.”
Beyond bots
But bots are only part of a larger problem. Hirshberg said the problem is often compounded by the limited number of tickets available to the public.
In the second half of 2022, live nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster faced widespread backlash after misselling tickets for Taylor Swift’s 2022 “Ellas” tour.
Live Nation website placed on a laptop on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 in New York, USA.
Gabby Jones Bloomberg | Getty Images
Several lawsuits have been filed against the company, alleging monopolistic practices and harming consumer interests.
Live Nation reached a $9.9 million settlement with the District of Columbia in April for allegedly advertising deceptively low prices before adding mandatory fees and using misleading tactics to create an artificial sense of urgency. Live Nation denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
“For at least a decade, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have increased their profits by charging predatory and hidden fees, taking advantage of Washington, D.C. residents buying tickets to their favorite artists and teams and buying other artists at full price,” said District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb.
Face value tickets for Swift’s “Ellas” tour ranged from $49 to $450, while VIP packages started at $199 and reached $899. On the secondary market, some tickets were selling for between $800 and $20,000 each.
Hirshberg said the same problem is widespread throughout the entertainment industry.
“Shows like Hamilton are selling tickets on the resale market for, say, $2,000, but the top price for a Broadway ticket is about $800. This shows they’re not setting the price at a price that will clear the market.”
However, demand far exceeds supply and people are clearly willing to pay higher prices. However, producers still want to make their shows more accessible and don’t want to charge fees that they think are unreasonable.
Compounding the problem is that some consumers are unaware that they are purchasing tickets online from resellers. Hirshberg pointed to Broadway.com, a resale ticket sales platform. Because of its name, many buyers often mistake it for the official reseller of Broadway tickets. CNBC reached out to Broadway.com but did not receive a response from the company by press time.
According to Boomi’s Ireki, the problem is more than just a solution.
“This needs to be supported again by well-connected systems, rather than just one tool, as regulations and business policies are required.”
Hirshberg added that the primary beneficiaries of these markups are scalpers, not “the actual people who are putting up with the risks, the artists and others who work on the shows.”
